Brawa HO Scale Freight Cars

BRAWA 47208

Rail Car SSlma 44 OBB

When the DRG [Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft] was founded, a large quantity of rail carriages according to the Prussian standards were assumed meaning that, due to the modest financial means, there was no opportunity to procure high quantities of succession models. Although a 4-axle rail carriage was taken into consideration during the set-up of replacement construction drawings, only a limited amount of 95 units were built. Demand for a new 4-axle rail carriage only grew with the emergence of welding technology and the armament of the German Reich. Consequently, multiple prototypes and ranges with numerous differences were created in quick succession. In 1934, SEAG supplied the first two trial wagons. They were produced using St 52 and also had a removable wooden or steel brakeman(TM)s cab respectively. The further deliveries up until 1939 were also produced using St 52, had three cross-members and seven stake pairs. The brakeman(TM)s cab was removable. An amended variant was built from 1941 onwards. This now consisted of the weaker St 37 which meant that a fourth cross-member had to be included. Accordingly, there were now eight lateral stake pairs. For vehicle transports, the brakeman(TM)s cab only had a foldable platform railing. At the request of the Wehrmacht, all of the older wagons had to be converted in this manner. The first deliveries boasted a welded box bogie but all later deliveries were equipped with the press plate bogies. In addition to the deliveries to the DR, the Wehrmacht also received wagons and used them for military purposes, e.g. in the trains of the mobile V2 ramps. In total, approximately 3,500 wagons were built by the end of the war. After 1945, the welded rail carriages were distributed throughout half of Europe. In France, the equipping of these carriages with new bogies is still common. At the end of the war, DB had approximately 1,400 wagons in the inventory and it is estimated that DR had about 500. Both railway companies continued to use the wagons for a long period of time and they were only withdrawn in the 1980s. Even in 1979, DB had over 1,000 of the wagons bearing the R 672 designation in use. The original wagons were withdrawn earlier in the DR. However, the lack of wagons in the 1980s lead to the last R 672 wagons being purchased from DB. DR designated them as Rkk [3811] and used them until the slump in traffic volume in 1990.